The Old Apple Tree
by tangerinefever
Summary: EdxWin:'She remained on that branch, stroking the bark with her fingers, and exploring the whorls and gnarls with absentmindedness. She felt like she was touching the past, going back to those heady spring days of her childhood.'


A/N: So I was making a sig for myself (a ed/win sig) and then I got this idea for a fanfic. And I am extremely bored on a Sunday afternoon, so here I am, writing this up. Such is my life. Anyway, this is sort of a drabble, as it doesn't really have much of a plot. Yay! I just wanted to experiment with a new style of writing, and to write a fic in which the characters talk without using any words.

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA. (Finally, a simple disclaimer that doesn't try to make you laugh. :P)

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They found their special spot when she was seven and he was eight.

It was a warm, blustery day, typical of spring in Risenbool. They had spent the morning tramping through the plentiful wheat fields of their hometown, playing Marco Polo. Earlier in the morning, his mum sent them out with 2 sandwiches and a bottle of lemonade.  
As the sun climbed higher in the sky, you could see the two small children cut paths through the wheat fields, before stumbling out into a broad meadow of spring time colours. The girl gasped with happiness, and ran through the daisies and the long green grass, before stopping, out of breath, underneath an old apple tree. By the time her companion caught up with her, she was already climbing the tree, finding footholds in the gnarls, and a castle in the canopy.  
'Come join me.' she smiled, and he laughed a 'Yes.'  
Hours later, their games finished, and they sat on a wide branch, swinging their feet idly, munching on sandwiches and sharing the lemonade. They sat like that for a while, quietly munching and swilling, before he took her small hand in his, gestured grandly out in the air.  
'This is our special spot, ok?' He stated, with a wide grin.  
'Ok.' She replied, blinking her large blue eyes.  
'Race you home!' He smirked, before jumping down and dashing back down the small hill, with the girl close on his heels.

They discovered their special spot when she was seventeen and he was eighteen.

It was a dry, hot day, typical of summer in Risenbool. They had spent the morning shouting at each other, because he had gotten them lost again. A quick trip to the creek had turned into a game of Marco Polo, as they found each other through the extremely dense wheat fields by shouting at each other. Earlier in the morning, her grandma had told them to get out of her hair, sending them out with 2 sandwiches and a bottle of lemonade.  
As the sun climbed higher in the sky, you could see the two teenagers fight their way through the wheat fields, before stumbling out into a broad meadow of summer time colours. The girl gasped with remembrance, as they recalled their earlier adventures here. Their words stopped, as they succumbed to the wave of nostalgia sweeping through them. She saw the same old apple tree on the hill, and ran towards it, a broad smile on her face as she ploughed through the dandelions and the long green grass. She stopped underneath the tree, out of breath and sweaty. By the time her companion caught up with her, she was already climbing the tree, finding memories in the hollows and dreams in the canopy.  
'Come join me.' She smiled, and he shook his head into a 'Yes.'  
As they sat, side-by-side on the wide branch, as they had done so many years ago, they swung their feet idly and munched on sandwiches and shared a bottle of lemonade.  
The girl was remembering the way they had decided that this tree and hill was their special place, wordlessly yet completely understandable. She wondered what had happened to those days, where they had not a worry in the world, and seemingly a language for themselves. She wondered what had happened over those long years, of hardship and nightmares that had made them drift so seemingly far apart.  
The boy was remembering the way he had taken her hand in his, and declared this tree specifically theirs. What had happened over time that had left this memory so bittersweet in his mind? Was it the fact that he was no longer innocent, with the naivety to honestly believe that one would simply say something and it became true?

After a while, he jumped down and lay in the shade of the tree, dozing in the thick grass. She remained on that branch, stroking the bark with her fingers, and exploring the whorls and gnarls of the branch with absentmindedness. She felt like she was touching the past, going back to those heady spring days of her childhood. She wished that she could fall into those memories, and drown her senses with the drowsy elixir of innocence. She looked down at her companion as he slept, and smiled at the way sleep brought back the child in everyone. His brow was smooth and unworried, and his shirt had ridden up, the way it had ever since he was a young boy. She slid down the trunk, and sat beside him, chin resting on her knees.  
He cracked open an eye, woken by the disturbance next to him. He looked at his companion, studying her like the way he had studied so many books. He studied the way her long hair bent as it hit her shoulder, the way she looked so serious and mature, while her eyes still sparkled like a child's. Maybe she remembered too, he pondered, the way that they had used to be. Before the incident, before he went away with Al. Even though he was back now, with all his body restored, he doubted their relationship could go back to the way it had used to be, free and uninhibited. Nowadays, something was always making the air thick and stifling when he was around her, and it wasn't just summer.  
She felt his eyes on her, and turned her gaze to meet his. She saw the memories in his eyes, and for a moment, she held onto a burning hope.  
He saw a fire flash in her eyes, and for the first time, he knew what it meant. Was it the fact that he was under this apple tree, that he understood her again, like when they were children? He lifted one corner of his mouth into a smile, and she knew the question he was asking. She bit her lip nervously, and he heard her answer.  
Pushing himself up slowly, he moved towards her with a calmness he had not felt in years. And as she leant forward, she felt something come alive within her that had been dead for years. As their lips came together, with a stifling sweetness, she felt the bitter aftertaste of her loneliness wash away, replaced by a strange sensation of discovery. He felt her smile against his lips, and he mirrored her actions, a sense of finality crashing around his ears. He touched her cheek, exploring her skin like she had explored the bark of the tree. She curled her fingers around his arm, the way he had curled his around her hand all those years ago.

They sat there, under the apple tree, for days it seemed. And when they were twenty-four and twenty-five, they went against their family's wishes, and built their house out there, with the old apple tree in their back yard, and the future in the front.

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A/N: I really really liked the way this turned out! I'm so happy with this. It has a real sense of childhood freedom, don't you think? D Make sure you review and tell me what you thought about it!

Tangerine-fever


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